AsheNews

Top Menu

  • Advert Rates

Main Menu

  • Home
  • General News
  • AGRICULTURE
  • Business/Banking & Finance
  • Entertainments & Sports
  • HEALTH
  • International
  • Investigation
  • Law & Human Rights
  • Advert Rates

logo

Header Banner

AsheNews

  • Home
  • General News
  • AGRICULTURE
  • Business/Banking & Finance
  • Entertainments & Sports
  • HEALTH
  • International
  • Investigation
  • Law & Human Rights
  • NDLEA arrests 774 suspects, seizes 3,874.3kgs of drugs in Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau

  • NYC Multicultural Festival: Emir of Argungu honours community leader in Harlem

  • Help end child abuse, molestation: 9-year-old appeals to world leaders

  • Bandit terrorists kill 50-year-old cleric in Kaduna

  • 30-year-old man punches mother of 2 to death in Anambra – Police

FOOD & AGRICULTURE
Home›FOOD & AGRICULTURE›Nigeria declares weeds as major drawback in cassava farming

Nigeria declares weeds as major drawback in cassava farming

By Abdallah el-Kurebe
March 23, 2018
352
0

Commissioners of agriculture in Nigeria’s cassava growing belt have declared weeds as major drivers of low yield in cassava and the main constraint limiting the competitiveness of cassava farmers in the country.

The declaration was made in a communique signed by 14 commissioners of agriculture and issued at the 2018 Annual Review & Work Planning Meeting of the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project themed: “(Unveiling of new Technologies for Weed Control in Cassava Farming Systems),” in Ibadan, 19- 20 March 2018.

Dr Kenton Dashiell, Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery at IITA said the declaration was a step in the right direction.

“The first step to solving a problem is identifying and recognizing that you have a problem,” he said. 

Though Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, the yield of cassava is low with FAO reporting a national average for Nigeria of 9.1 tons per ha compared to Asian countries where yields are more than twice Nigeria’s national average. Consequently, Nigerian cassava farmers can’t compete with their counterparts in Asia and Latin America.

The commissioners noted that to change the cassava narrative, there was the urgent need for collaborative efforts with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Cassava Weed Management project, Federal Government, State Governments, the Private sector, national research institutes, universities, and other stakeholders.

Mr Monday Osaigbovo, Commissioner for Agriculture for Edo State, stated that it was high time attention was given to weed control.

“If we do nothing to address weeds, we won’t be able to transform cassava in the country,” he said.

Among the cost variables to cassava production, weed control takes 50 – 80 per cent of labour budget. A do-nothing approach to weed management in cassava ends up being a disaster with farmers losing almost everything.

Over the last four years, the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project with donor support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has developed innovative packages to control weeds in cassava. Implementation partners include the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike; the University of Agriculture, Makurdi; and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Other partners are the state Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs), government representatives, international cassava scientists, and the private sector.

Lawrence Kent, Senior Program Manager with the Gates Foundation noted that poor weed control is a major factor affecting the yield of cassava.

Results presented by the Project Leader of the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project, Dr Alfred Dixon, showed that by switching to the innovative packaged developed by the Project, Nigeria farmers could record more than 20 tons per ha, up from 9 tons per ha being reported by FAO as Nigeria’s national average.

TagsAATFIITAOFAB AfricaOFAB NigeriaUSDA
Previous Article

Nigeria ready to apply biotechnology to improve ...

Next Article

Bauchi treats 2,234 TB patients from 2016 ...

Abdallah el-Kurebe

Related articles More from author

  • FOOD & AGRICULTURE

    Sowing the seeds of equal access to resources in Uganda

    March 12, 2018
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
  • BUSINESS/BANKING & FINANCEFOOD & AGRICULTUREGENERAL NEWS

    Biotechnology, potent investment for African farmers

    August 13, 2020
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
  • FOOD & AGRICULTUREGENERAL NEWS

    Nigeria: IITA, PIND, NRCRI, sign MoU to promote cassava seed system in Niger Delta

    November 16, 2020
    By Editor
  • FOOD & AGRICULTUREGENERAL NEWS

    CGIAR centres launch agronomy research initiative to support productivity

    September 8, 2020
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
  • FOOD & AGRICULTUREGENERAL NEWS

    Food security: Why Africa can’t afford post-harvest losses; needs policies, technologies

    September 19, 2021
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
  • FOOD & AGRICULTURESCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

    New research might help farmers diagnose soybean stresses with a phone

    May 3, 2018
    By Abdallah el-Kurebe

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You may interested

  • EDUCATIONVIEWPOINT/ANALYSIS

    ARTICLE: In search of the Ideal Teacher

  • ELECTIONSGENERAL NEWSPOLITICS

    Kano PDP splits over participation in LG election

  • CRIME & CRIMINALITYGENERAL NEWS

    Cultists clash claims 8 lives in Akwa Ibom

Latest News

  • June 26, 2022

    NDLEA arrests 774 suspects, seizes 3,874.3kgs of drugs in Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau

  • June 26, 2022

    NYC Multicultural Festival: Emir of Argungu honours community leader in Harlem

  • June 26, 2022

    Help end child abuse, molestation: 9-year-old appeals to world leaders

  • June 26, 2022

    Bandit terrorists kill 50-year-old cleric in Kaduna

  • June 26, 2022

    30-year-old man punches mother of 2 to death in Anambra – Police

Latest Comments

  • Aliyu Buba Maigoro
    on
    April 3, 2022
    The unfortunate thing is, does your votes count?!

    NULGE TO NIGERIANS: Don’t re-elect governors opposing LG autonomy

  • mubashshir Muhammad sani
    on
    March 22, 2022
    Good news

    FAAC: Federal, states, local governments share N590.546bn as February allocation 

  • AA Sadeeq
    on
    March 16, 2022
    And the US and all its political leaders?

    Biden changes stance, calls Putin ‘a war criminal’

  • Umar Ahmad
    on
    March 12, 2022
    What the USA refused to happen to her in 1960s, she is now trying to force ...

    Russia-Ukraine War: Why Nigerian govt must ban maize exports – Dangote

  • mohammad abubakar kudu
    on
    March 11, 2022
    Very good and updated reports..

    How governors spend security votes, NGF chairman, Fayemi reveals

About us:

ASHE (Pronounced ASH) is an acronym for Agriculture, Science, Health and Environment. Ashenewsonline brings to you news focused in these as well as Politics, Business, Economy and all other aspects of human endeavour.

We are here to feed into Nigeria’s news service chain as a frontier source for citizens journalism. Beyond mentioning, Ashenewsonline encourages people to provide story tips on human rights abuses, corruption, good governance, etc.

Contact Info:

  • No. 5, Maiduguri road 1st floor, Dogon Daji House, Sokoto
  • 07031140009
  • ashenewsonline@gmail.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • NDLEA arrests 774 suspects, seizes 3,874.3kgs of drugs in Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau

    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
    June 26, 2022
  • NYC Multicultural Festival: Emir of Argungu honours community leader in Harlem

    By Abdallah el-Kurebe
    June 26, 2022
  • Help end child abuse, molestation: 9-year-old appeals to world leaders

    By NewsDesk
    June 26, 2022
  • Bandit terrorists kill 50-year-old cleric in Kaduna

    By NewsDesk
    June 26, 2022
  • Nigeria says 3,598 cholera deaths in 2021 unacceptable

    By Editor
    January 11, 2022
  • Nigeria’s apex bank governor tasks rice millers on FOREX, employment

    By NewsDesk
    February 2, 2022
  • COLUMN: The Craze for Easy Money in Nigeria and The Hanifa Story, By Prof. M ...

    By NewsDesk
    February 6, 2022
  • How governors spend security votes, NGF chairman, Fayemi reveals

    By NewsDesk
    March 11, 2022
  • Aliyu Buba Maigoro
    on
    April 3, 2022

    NULGE TO NIGERIANS: Don’t re-elect governors opposing LG autonomy

    The unfortunate thing is, ...
  • mubashshir Muhammad sani
    on
    March 22, 2022

    FAAC: Federal, states, local governments share N590.546bn as February allocation 

    Good news
  • AA Sadeeq
    on
    March 16, 2022

    Biden changes stance, calls Putin ‘a war criminal’

    And the US and ...
  • Umar Ahmad
    on
    March 12, 2022

    Russia-Ukraine War: Why Nigerian govt must ban maize exports – Dangote

    What the USA refused ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    © Copyright ASHENEWS. All rights reserved. Digital materials on this website may not be published, reproduced, rebroadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PenPlus Media Consults Ltd, Publishers of AshenewsDaily.com | Powered by Growsyn Cloud Platform